Rain
By: Who Else? Me
Chapter Ten
Wizard Chess
"Check," said Dorothy, smiling up at Ron as she clacked her queen down three spaces away from his king.
The redhead across from her stared down, thoughtfully, at the board and then moved his rook up to the other end of the board so that it was blocking his king. Dorothy watched as his finger left the piece and swiftly killed his rook with her bishop.
"Check mate." Her voice sounded final and she gently knocked over the king before letting the rest of her pieces beat the crap out of it.
"Th-that must have been a fluke!" Ron was trying to make excuses for his loss.
"Probably is," replied the dark-haired girl, smiling up at him. "Never was very good at this game. I might have moved something too far by accident...who know?"
"Oh, you lost very poorly, Weasley," said a drawling voice, looking over his shoulder at the chess board.
"Bugger off, Malfoy," Ron growled, taking the insult personally.
"She could've mated you there, there, there, oh and there!" The blonde Slytherin took joy in pointing out all of the spots and he smirked when he was finished.
"I could've?" Dorothy acted as if she hadn't seen them and stared curiously at the broken bit of chess pieces as the slowly began to reassemble themselves.
"Well, if you're so smart, Malfoy, you try and play her," Ron insisted, looking smug as he offered his seat to the other boy.
"With pleasure," Draco replied, sitting across from Dorothy and watching as the chess pieces got back into place. "Let's make a little wager on this game, shall we? If I win, you have to play a game with me, by my rules."
"Fine, and if I win you stop stalking me. Yes, I notice you watching me after I change classes," she said, noticing the slight surprise on his face. "Deal?"
"Deal."
So they began to play wizard chess at during the first half of the game, it seemed Dorothy was winning by a long shot, but the unnerving smirk on Draco's face, led her to think he was just toying with her. The game kept on for almost five hours and there was some conflict on who was winning. Ron, Harry, Hermione, and the other Gryffindors who had gathered around seemed to insist this game was going to end with Dorothy as the champ, while Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, and the Slytherins all seemed to favor Draco's victory. Sweat was beginning to line both their brows as they stared at the checkered chess board and watched their pieces crumble as they were destroyed by the opponent's. Every so often Dorothy would watch Draco discuss his next move with Pansy and refuse any help from her fellow Gryffindors. And just as the winning move was made, and all of one house gasped, it was over. Dorothy felt her expression change dramatically.
From concentration...to horror. She'd lost, to Draco Malfoy, and now she had to play his little game. Alone. With him. She covered her face with her hands and hunched over in despair. How could she lose to him? He must have cheated. But there was no way to tell now. She simple watched, through her fingers, as her king was dismantled by a group of bullying other chess pieces.
"Well, now. It seems you have to play my little game, doesn't it?" Draco got to his feet and approached her, leaning over to whisper in her ear. "Tomorrow, meet me on the Quidditch pitch at 9:30 AM. Now if you're not there, I'll come looking for you."
The girl turned her face to look at him, her eyes suddenly firm and said with a solid, unwavering voice, "Don't worry. I won't chicken out, Draco. Don't make me out to be a coward." And with that she picked up her stuff and was off to Gryffindor Common Room.
When she'd reached her destination she gave the password and entered, feeling so tired and worried. A game? That could mean anything and with the way Draco had been acting lately it could mean a lot of things she didn't like. What if he forced her to...oh no, no, no! He wouldn't make her do THAT...would he? Her head suddenly felt crowded with possibilities and with each one she began to dread "the game" even more.
She sat down in an armchair and stared blankly at the fire, feeling steadily drowsier. She was on the verge of closing her eyes when a head popped up into the flame and was grinning at her. It was her father.
"Eh? Father?! What are you—"
"Ah! Great! I was hoping I'd pronounced you're house's name right! I have some news, my girl," said the man who seemed to be in quite a cheery mood. "I'll be away on business this holiday so, unfortunately, you'll have to stay at school for Christmas. I've already sent all your presents to the headmaster and I'll send you a souvenir from Costa Rica. Please don't be sad, angel. I promise you can come home for Christmas next yeah. Adios." Mr. Agel's head disappeared and Dorothy relaxed back into the armchair, feeling ten times worse than she had when she'd lost the chess match against Draco.
Nothing seemed to be going her way.
A/N: A game?! Oh, what could it mean Kokri-chan? What could it mean? I'll tell ya what it means! It means you'd better read the next chapter when I update. Not much to say but thanks everyone for your enthusiastic replies. AND I SAID IT WAS GOING TO BE MARY-SUE!! Please forgive me rudeness, but I did warn you! Ciao.
WEM